Growth Patterns in Bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus) and Pumpkinseed (L. gibbosus) Sunfish: Environmental Variation and the Importance of Ontogenetic Niche Shifts

Size-specific growth rates were determined for bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus) and pumpkinseed (L. gibbosus) sunfish collected between 1978 and 1985 in nine lakes in southwestern Michigan. Variation in growth rates was attributable to lake effects as well as an interaction between lake and year effects. Year effects explained none of the observed variation, suggesting that growth rates were influenced more by unique lake differences than by annual climatic differences. Analyses of the covariation in growth among different size-classes of bluegill and pumpkinseed revealed that small bluegill (< 55 mm standard length (SL)) and small pumpkinseed (< 40 mm SL) exhibited similar responses to environmental factors, while large bluegill (> 55 mm SL) and large pumpkinseed (> 50 mm SL) responded differently. These breaks in the growth patterns coincide with the sizes at which each species exhibits an ontogenetic shift in diet. Comparison of growth rates and resource densities suggests that the growth rates of the large fishes were food limited. Small fishes showed significant density-dependent growth. This correlative evidence for competition is in agreement with recent experimental work. We suggest that the competition between juvenile sunfishes is driven by the effects of adult resources on adult performance and the eventual recruitment of juveniles into the littoral habitat.

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Ontogenetic Niche Shifts, Predators, and Coexistence among Consumer Species

Population and Community Ecology of Ontogenetic Development ◽

10.23943/princeton/9780691137575.003.0008 ◽

2013 ◽

Author(s):

André M. de Roos ◽

Lennart Persson

Keyword(s):

Alternative Stable States ◽

Niche Partitioning ◽

Stage Structure ◽

Stable States ◽

Stable Coexistence ◽

Ontogenetic Niche Shifts ◽

Niche Shifts ◽

Ontogenetic Niche ◽

Dependent Growth ◽

Equal Population

This chapter considers how stage structure and ontogenetic niche shifts may affect the coexistence between two consumer species competing for two resources in the absence and presence of predators, and how ontogenetic niche shifts may give rise to alternative stable states. More specifically, the analysis will use techniques developed within the consumer-resource framework of Tilman (1982), including consumption and renewal vectors (Schellekens, de Roos, and Persson 2010). Tilman showed that stable coexistence between consumers feeding on the same two resources is possible if each consumer species feeds proportionally more on the resource that limits its own growth most. Stable coexistence is, however, also affected by the form of resource-dependent growth isoclines, which represent combinations of resource densities that lead to equal population growth of consumers. It is shown that ontogenetic niche shifts per se affect the form of resource-dependent growth isoclines, which in turn may lead to coexistence through niche partitioning. The chapter also discusses how predation may promote the performance of a species undergoing ontogenetic niche shifts even in the case where it is both the inferior competitor and the preferred prey of the predator.

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Temperature-Dependent Growth and Production by a Marine Copepod

Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences ◽

10.1139/f81-010 ◽

1981 ◽

Vol 38 (1) ◽

pp. 77-83 ◽

Cited By ~ 52

Author(s):

I. A. McLaren ◽

C. J. Corkett

Keyword(s):

Growth Rates ◽

Life Cycles ◽

Temperature Dependent ◽

Marine Copepod ◽

Development Times ◽

Body Sizes ◽

Eurytemora Herdmani ◽

Growth Production ◽

Dependent Growth ◽

Specific Growth Rates

Highly synchronous cohorts of the copepod Eurytemora herdmani at a station near Halifax, Nova Scotia, were followed in samples taken during late July and early August, 1980. Individuals from the same population were reared in the laboratory from copepodite I (CI) to adult in conditions of food satiation. Development times and adult body sizes in nature were about the same as predicted for comparable temperatures in the laboratory. Weight increments between CI and adult male in samples from nature were exponential. Females became heavier, because of eggs, after CIII, but developed more slowly, so that their specific growth rates were about the same as for males. Production estimated from weights and stage increments in successive samples (cohort method) was adequately predicted from biomasses in samples and temperature-dependent development times from the laboratory. Production of egg matter by adult females was also adequately predicted by temperature-dependent growth rates of younger stages. These "rules" of development, growth, and production need wider empirical testing and theoretical justification.Key words: Copepoda, temperature, life cycles, development, growth, production

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Population social structure and gizzard shad density influence the size-specific growth of bluegill

Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences ◽

10.1139/cjfas-2013-0055 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 70 (9) ◽

pp. 1278-1288 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Randall W. Oplinger ◽

Matthew J. Diana ◽

David H. Wahl

Keyword(s):

Social Structure ◽

Population Size ◽

Growth Rates ◽

Specific Growth ◽

Lepomis Macrochirus ◽

Gizzard Shad ◽

Adult Size ◽

Lake Productivity ◽

Multiple Variables ◽

Specific Growth Rates

Many bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus) populations are stunted and consist mainly of smaller individuals. There has been much recent interest in determining factors that influence the growth of bluegill so that management remedies can be designed to alleviate stunting. Bluegill population size structure is unlikely controlled by any one factor. Instead, multiple variables likely interact to regulate adult size. We used Akaike’s information criterion to determine how various environmental variables influence the size-specific growth of bluegill at 50, 100, and 150 mm total length (TL) in 16 lakes. Eight models related to prey availability, lake productivity, lake habitat, predation pressure, intraspecific competition, angling pressure, gizzard shad (Dorosoma cepedianum) density, and population social structure were constructed. Population social structure had the greatest effect on the size-specific growth rates of fish at 50 mm TL. At this size we found a significant negative relationship between size-specific growth rates and the mean age of maturation of males in the population. Size-specific growth rates at 100 and 150 mm TL were negatively related to gizzard shad density. These results suggest that management actions that help to increase the numbers of large males and reduce gizzard shad density would help alleviate stunting in bluegill populations.

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Spatial variation in mean growth rates at size of southern rock lobster, Jasus edwardsii, in South Australian waters

Marine and Freshwater Research ◽

10.1071/mf97172 ◽

1999 ◽

Vol 50 (4) ◽

pp. 333 ◽

Cited By ~ 56

Author(s):

R. McGarvey ◽

G. J. Ferguson ◽

J. H. Prescott

Keyword(s):

Growth Rates ◽

Carapace Length ◽

Fishery Management ◽

Individual Growth ◽

Von Bertalanffy ◽

Jasus Edwardsii ◽

Length Increment ◽

The Mean ◽

Dependent Growth ◽

Specific Growth Rates

Size-specific growth rates of Jasus edwardsii were estimated from 16 000 recaptures of tagged lobsters during a 3-year mark–recapture study. The von Bertalanffy growth model was fitted to observed increases in carapace length. A normal likelihood of predicted length increment as a function of starting length and time-at-large was maximized. Estimated standard deviation of the likelihood, taken as an allometric function of predicted length increment, quantified individual growth variation. The distributions of residuals indicated satisfactory fits. von Bertalanffy parameters of growth were estimated at three levels of spatial resolution: 18 statistical reporting blocks, 6 growth subregions, and 2 fishery management zones. Among blocks, the mean annual growth of lobsters of 100 mm carapace length was 7–20 mm for males and 5–15 mm for females. Females grew more slowly after reaching sexual maturity. Growth rates declined by approximately 1 mm year –1 per 20 m increase in depth of habitat, at depths of 20 m and deeper. Density-dependent growth was indicated by spatial anti-correlation between male growth rates at 100 mm and fishery catches by number per unit effort. Regression implied that a 10% decrease in catch rate corresponded to increased growth by weight of 2–5%.

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Effects of turbidity on prey consumption and growth in brook trout and implications for bioenergetics modeling

Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences ◽

10.1139/f00-260 ◽

2001 ◽

Vol 58 (2) ◽

pp. 386-393 ◽

Cited By ~ 38

Author(s):

John A Sweka ◽

Kyle J Hartman

Keyword(s):

Growth Rates ◽

Brook Trout ◽

Specific Growth ◽

Abiotic Factors ◽

Foraging Strategies ◽

Turbid Water ◽

Daily Consumption ◽

Consumption Rates ◽

The Difference ◽

Specific Growth Rates

Brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) were held in an artificial stream to observe the influence of turbidity on mean daily consumption and specific growth rates. Treatment turbidity levels ranged from clear (<3.0 nephelometric turbidity units (NTU)) to very turbid water (> 40 NTU). Observed mean daily specific consumption rates were standardized to the mean weight of all brook trout tested. Turbidity had no significant effect on mean daily consumption, but specific growth rates decreased significantly as turbidity increased. Brook trout in turbid water became more active and switched foraging strategies from drift feeding to active searching. This switch was energetically costly and resulted in lower specific growth rates in turbid water as compared with clear water. Bioenergetics simulations were run to compare observed growth with that predicted by the model. Observed growth values fell below those predicted by the model and the difference increased as turbidity increased. Abiotic factors, such as turbidity, which bring about changes in the activity rates of fish, can have implications for the accuracy of predicted growth by bioenergetics models.

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